Computer-readable storage medium storing a grouping support program, grouping support method and grouping support server

ABSTRACT

A computer-readable storage medium storing a grouping support program of opinion information that, when executed by a computer, performs a grouping support method includes specifying a related opinion information related to a first opinion information and a second opinion information among a plurality of collected opinion information based on a related word guided from the first opinion information and the second opinion information selected from the plurality of collected opinion information; and grouping the specified related opinion information in the same group as the first opinion information and the second opinion information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromthe prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-055486 filed on Mar. 18,2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a grouping support program, a groupingsupport method and a grouping support server that perform grouping ofopinions input with respect to an assignment.

BACKGROUND

A verification test of the next-generation education using an electronicterminal such as a tablet PC is being conducted and thus, it isanticipated that the next-generation education will be spread outnationwide.

A type of education includes a discussion conducted between students inthe class. It is conceived that the discussion in the next-generationeducation will be conducted using the electronic terminal. A type of thediscussion is known in which opinions with respect to an assignmentinput to the electronic terminal by the student are collectivelyreceived to be displayed on a screen of the electronic terminal forteacher, the content of the opinion selected by a teacher among thedisplayed opinions is set as a subject and then, the discussion isconducted.

There has been a need to group an opinion selected by the teacher as asubject and another opinion related to the selected opinion to displaythe grouped opinions arranged by a group unit. There is known a groupingmethod such as, for example, a method of manually grouping the opinionsof students by the teacher, or a method of grouping the opinions ofstudents by digitalizing the degree of relevancy of the opinions of therespective students and grouping the opinions according to the degree ofrelevancy.

See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-98687.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the embodiments, a computer-readable storagemedium storing a grouping support program of opinion information that,when executed by a computer, performs a grouping support method includesspecifying a related opinion information related to a first opinioninformation and a second opinion information among a plurality ofcollected opinion information based on a related word guided from thefirst opinion information and the second opinion information selectedfrom the plurality of collected opinion information; and grouping thespecified related opinion information in the same group as the firstopinion information and the second opinion information.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are exemplary andexplanatory, and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an example of a configuration of agrouping support system.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of a hardware configuration ofa teacher terminal.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of a student database.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment database.

FIG. 5 is a first view illustrating an example of an opinion database.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of a label database.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an example of a synonym dictionary.

FIG. 8 is a view explaining the function of the teacher terminal.

FIG. 9 is a first flowchart illustrating the operations of the teacherterminal.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment selectionmonitor screen displayed on the teacher terminal.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment monitorscreen displayed on a student terminal.

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C are a second flowchart illustrating theoperations of the teacher terminal.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an example of an opinion display monitorscreen.

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which a representative opinion is selected.

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen which is in an opinion selection mode.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which an opinion required for being a selected opinion isselected.

FIG. 17 is a second view illustrating an example of the opiniondatabase.

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which a relating line is displayed.

FIG. 19 is a view explaining movement of the selected opinion and arelated opinion.

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which movement of the selected opinion and the related opinionhas been completed.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart explaining a process of a label display unit.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which a label information selection menu is displayed.

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which label information is selected from the label informationselection menu.

FIG. 24 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the selected label information is displayed on arepresentative opinion display area.

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which manipulation of the relating line deletion is performed.

FIG. 26 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the relating line is deleted.

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion database inwhich a plurality of representative opinions are selected.

FIG. 28 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which a plurality of representative opinions are selected.

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating an example of an unfolding displaymonitor screen in which the opinion is unfolded and displayed.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinbelow, exemplary embodiments will be described with reference toaccompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an example of aconfiguration of a grouping support system.

A grouping support system 100 of the present embodiment includes agrouping support server 200 and a plurality of electronic terminals 300.The grouping support server 200 and the plurality of electronicterminals 300 of the present embodiment are connected with each otherthrough a network.

The grouping support server 200 supports grouping of opinions input fromeach electronic terminal 300 with respect to an assignment displayed ineach electronic terminal 300 in the grouping support system 100 of thepresent embodiment. The grouping in the present embodiment is anarrangement of opinions in which the opinions determined as having arelevancy when viewed from a predetermined viewpoint are grouped to forma group.

The grouping support system 100 of the present embodiment may be used ina discussion conducted between the students in, for example, the class.When the grouping support system 100 is used in the class, the groupingsupport server 200 serves as a terminal for teacher and the electronicterminal 300 serves as a terminal for student. Accordingly, in thefollowing description, the grouping support server 200 and theelectronic terminal 300 are referred to as a teacher terminal 200 andstudent terminal 300, respectively.

Each of the teacher terminal 200 and the student terminal 300 may be,for example, a tablet PC. Further, the teacher terminal 200 may be, forexample, a desktop computer or a notebook computer and the studentterminal 300 may be a notebook computer.

The teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment includes a studentdatabase 210, an assignment database 220, an opinion database 230, alabel database 240, a similar word dictionary 250, and is installed withprogram for teacher 260. The program for teacher 260 of the presentembodiment includes an assignment execution program 270 and a groupingsupport program 280.

Further, the student terminal 300 of the present embodiment is installedwith a program for student 310.

The teacher terminal 200 groups opinions of each student for anassignment according to viewpoint determined by a teacher and displaysthe opinions by a group unit in the grouping support system 100 of thepresent embodiment. Specifically, a viewpoint of a representativeopinion is determined using a related word which is common to both therepresentative opinion determined as appropriate for a subject and theopinion (referred to as a selected opinion) of the other studentsdetermined and selected as related to the representative opinion by theteacher from the opinion of each student and opinions related to therepresentative opinion are grouped in the present embodiment. Details ofthe related words will be described in later.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of a hardware configuration ofa teacher terminal. The teacher terminal 200 of the present embodimentincludes a display manipulation device 21, a drive device 22, anauxiliary storage device 23, a memory device 24, an operation processingdevice 25 and an interface device 26 that are connected with one anotherthrough a bus B.

The display manipulation device 21 is, for example, a touch panel, andis used to input various signals and display various information.

The interface device 26 includes, for example, a modem, or a LAN card,and is used for connecting to the network.

The program for teacher 260 constitutes at least a portion of variousprograms that control the teacher terminal 200. The program for teacher260 is provided by, for example, a distribution of the recording medium27 or download from the network. The recording medium 27 having theprogram for teacher 260 recorded therein may utilize various types ofrecording mediums such as, for example, a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, andan magneto-optical disk, which records information optically,electrically and magnetically, and a semiconductor memory such as, forexample, a ROM, and a flash memory, which records informationelectrically.

Further, when the recording medium 27 having the program for teacher 260recorded therein is set in the drive device 22, the program for teacher260 is installed in the auxiliary storage device 23 from the recordingmedium 27 through the drive device 22. The program for teacher 260downloaded from the network is installed in the auxiliary storage device23 through the interface device 26.

The auxiliary storage device 23 stores, for example, necessary files anddata while storing the installed program for teacher 260. The memorydevice 24 reads out and stores the program for teacher 260 from theauxiliary storage device 23 when a computer is activated. Also, theoperation processing device 25 implements various processes as describedbelow according to the program for teacher 260 stored in the memorydevice 24.

Further, the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment may be, forexample, a desktop computer or a notebook computer. In this case, theteacher terminal 200 includes an input device, such as a keyboard or amouse, and an output device, such as a display, instead of the displaymanipulation device 21.

A hardware configuration of the student terminal 300 of the presentembodiment is similar to that of the teacher terminal 200 and thus,descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Hereinbelow, each database and a similar word dictionary 250 stored inthe teacher terminal 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 toFIG. 7.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of a student database. Thestudent database 210 of the present embodiment is registered by, forexample, the teacher who manipulates the teacher terminal 200 inadvance. A student identifier (student ID) allocated for each studentterminal 300, a student name, and an IP address of the student terminal300 are stored to be associated with each other in the student database210. The IP address is information which identifies the student terminal300.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment database. Theassignment database 220 of the present embodiment is registered by, forexample, the teacher who manipulates the teacher terminal 200 inadvance. An assignment ID allocated for each assignment, a content ofassignment and an assignment submission time set for each assignment arestored to be associated with each other in the assignment database 220of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a first view illustrating an example of an opinion database.The student ID and the content of the opinion input by the student foreach assignment ID are stored to be associated with each other in theopinion database 230 of the present embodiment. Further, a keywordextracted from the content of the opinion and a similar word associatedwith the keyword is stored to be associated with the student ID in theopinion database 230 of the present embodiment. The keyword and thesimilar word are stored in the opinion database 230 in a process of anassignment execution program 270 to be described below.

Further, a representative opinion flag, a representative opinion, aselected opinion flag, and a selected opinion are associated with thestudent ID in the opinion database 230. The representative opinion flag,the representative opinion, the selected opinion flag, and the selectedopinion are stored in the opinion database 230 in a process of agrouping support program 280 to be described below.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of a label database. A labeldatabase 240 is registered by, for example, the teacher who manipulatesthe teacher terminal 200. Label information indicating a viewpoint whenopinions are grouped is stored in the label database 240. The labeldatabase 240 of the present embodiment is referred to when the label isallocated to the opinions grouped by the process of the grouping supportprogram 280 to be described below.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an example of a similar word dictionary. Aplurality of words having similar meaning are stored to be associatedwith one another as a single pattern in the similar word dictionary 250of the present embodiment. In an example of FIG. 7, “cost of living”,“economy”, “money” and “income” are set to pattern 1, “life”, “biosis”,“abortion” and “death” are set to pattern 2, “health”, “disease”,“pregnant of mother” and “after-effect” are set to pattern 3. The wordsstored in the similar word dictionary 250 are stored in the opiniondatabase 230 by the process of the grouping support program 280 to bedescribed below. Further, the similar words are illustrated in italicsin FIG. 5.

Next, the function of the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodimentwill be described with reference to FIG. 8. The processes of each unitto be described below may be implemented by executing the program forteacher 260. FIG. 8 is a view explaining the function of the teacherterminal.

The teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment includes anassignment monitor screen display unit 271, an opinion acquisition unit272 and the opinion database update unit 273 implemented by an executionof an assignment execution program 270.

The assignment monitor screen display unit 271 displays the assignmentselected from the assignment database 220 on the student terminal 300.The opinion acquisition unit 272 acquires an opinion for the assignmentinput in the student terminal 300 and stores the opinion in the opiniondatabase 230. The opinion database update unit 273 updates the opiniondatabase 230. Details of the process of the opinion database update unit273 will be described later.

Further, the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment includeseach unit, which will be described in the following, implemented byexecution of the grouping support program 280. The teacher terminal 200of the present embodiment includes a display control unit 281, arepresentative opinion reception unit 282, a selected opinion receptionunit 283, a keyword acquisition unit 284, a related opinion specifyingunit 285, a relating line management unit 286, and a label display unit287.

The display control unit 281 of the present embodiment controlsdisplaying of the display manipulation device 21 of the teacher terminal200. The representative opinion reception unit 282 receives an opinionselected as the representative opinion in the display manipulationdevice 21. The representative opinion of the present embodimentcorresponds to an opinion selected by the teacher as being determined tobe a desirable subject of the future discussion among the opinionsreceived from each student terminal 300. Further, when therepresentative opinion is selected, the representative opinion receptionunit 282 of the present embodiment turns ON the representative opinionflag associated with the student ID of the student who inputs theopinion selected as the representative opinion in the opinion database230.

The selected opinion reception unit 283 receives an opinion selected asa selected opinion in the display manipulation device 21. The selectedopinion of the present embodiment corresponds to an opinion selected ashaving the relevancy to the representative opinion by the teacher in theopinions received from each student terminal 300. Further, when theselected opinion is selected, the selected opinion reception unit 283turns ON the selected opinion flag associated with the student ID of thestudent who inputs the opinion selected as the selected opinion in theopinion database 230. Further, the selected opinion reception unit 283stores the student ID for which the representative opinion flag isturned ON in the representative opinion column associated with thestudent ID of the student who inputs the opinion selected as theselected opinion.

The keyword acquisition unit 284 acquires the keyword stored in thekeyword column associated with the student ID for which the selectedopinion flag is turned ON.

The related opinion specifying unit 285 extracts a keyword common tokeywords stored in the keyword column associated with the student ID forwhich the representative opinion flag is turned ON and keywords acquiredfrom the keyword column associated with the student ID for which theselected opinion flag is turned ON. In the following description of thepresent embodiment, a keyword common to the keywords stored in keywordcolumn associated with the student ID for which the representativeopinion flag is turned ON and the keywords stored in keyword columnassociated with the student ID for which the selected opinion flag isturned ON is referred to as a related word.

The related opinion specifying unit 285 of the present embodimentspecifies an opinion including the related word as a related opinion tobe grouped in the same group as the representative opinion. The relatedopinion corresponds to an opinion related to the representative opinionwhen viewed from a certain viewpoint determined by the teacher. Further,the selected opinion is also grouped in the same group as therepresentative opinion.

The relating line management unit 286 manages displaying of the relatingline indicating that the representative opinion is related with therelated opinion. Details of processes of the keyword acquisition unit284, the related opinion specifying unit 285 and the relating linemanagement unit 286 will be described later. The label display unit 287displays a label selected from the label database 240 with respect tothe grouped opinions. Details of the process of the label display unit287 will be described later.

Hereinbelow, operations of the teacher terminal 200 of the presentembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a firstflowchart illustrating operations of the teacher terminal. FIG. 9illustrates operations of the teacher terminal 200 when the assignmentexecution program 270 is executed.

In the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment, the assignmentmonitor screen display unit 271 refers to the assignment database 220 todisplay the assignment select monitor screen on the display manipulationdevice 21 (step S901). Subsequently, the assignment monitor screendisplay unit 271 determines whether the assignment ID and the assignmenttransmission request are received (step S902). In the presentembodiment, when the assignment is selected in the display manipulationdevice 21, it is determined that the assignment transmission request isreceived.

At step S902, when it is determined that the assignment ID and theassignment transmission request are not received, the teacher terminal200 waits until the assignment ID and the assignment transmissionrequest are received.

At step S902, when it is determined that the assignment ID and theassignment transmission request are received, the assignment monitorscreen display unit 271 acquires the content of the assignmentassociated with the assignment ID selected from the assignment database220 and transmits the acquired content of the assignment to all thestudent terminals 300 (step S903). When the content of the assignment isreceived, the student terminal 300 displays the received content of theassignment on the display manipulation device of the student terminal300.

Subsequently, the teacher terminal 200 determines whether the opinionacquisition unit 272 receives an opinion for the assignment from thestudent terminal 300 (step S904). At step S904, when it is determinedthat the opinion acquisition unit 272 receives the opinion from thestudent terminal 300, the opinion database update unit 273 updates theopinion database 230 (step S905). Specifically, the opinion databaseupdate unit 273 refers to the student database 210 and acquires thestudent ID associated with the student terminal 300 which hastransmitted the opinion. Also, the opinion database update unit 273stores the received opinion in the opinion column of the opiniondatabase 230 associated with the acquired student ID.

When it is determined that the opinion for the assignment is notreceived at step S904, the opinion acquisition unit 272 goes to stepS906 t be described below.

Subsequently, the opinion acquisition unit 272 determines whether theassignment submission time is elapsed (step S906). When it is determinedthat the assignment submission time is not elapsed at step S906, theopinion acquisition unit 272 goes back to step S904.

When it is determined that the assignment submission time is elapsed atstep S906, the opinion database update unit 273 analyzes the opinion ofeach student of the opinion database 230 to extract a word associatedwith a keyword and stores the extracted keyword in the keyword column ofthe opinion database 230 (step S907). Subsequently, the opinion databaseupdate unit 273 refers to the similar word dictionary 250 to store asimilar word of the keyword stored in the keyword column in the keywordcolumn of the opinion database 230 (step S908). Details of the processesof step S907 and step S908 will be described later.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment selectionmonitor screen displayed on the teacher terminal. The assignment selectbutton 102, the assignment ID, the content of assignment, the assignmentsubmission time are displayed by being corresponded to one another inthe assignment select monitor screen 101 illustrated in FIG. 10. Whenthe assignment is selected by the assignment select button 102 and theassignment transmission button 103 is depressed (touched) in theassignment select monitor screen 101, the teacher terminal 200 transmitsthe content of the assignment associated with the selected assignment IDto the student terminal 300.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example of an assignment monitorscreen displayed on the student terminal. The assignment transmittedfrom the teacher terminal 200 is displayed in the assignment column 112of the assignment monitor screen 111 illustrated in FIG. 11. Further,the opinion column 113 to which an opinion for the assignment is inputis displayed in the assignment monitor screen 111. When an opinion isinput in the opinion column 113 and the transmission button 114 isdepressed (touched), a transmission request to transmit the opinion tothe teacher terminal 200 is assumed as having been received and theopinion input in the opinion column 113 is transmitted to the teacherterminal 200 in the student terminal 300.

Next, the processed of step S907 and step S908 of FIG. 9 by the opiniondatabase update unit 273 of the present embodiment will be describedwith reference to FIG. 5. The opinion database 230 illustrated in FIG. 5is an example of an opinion database after step S907 and step S908 areexecuted.

First, the process of step S907 will be described.

The opinion received from the student terminal 300 at step S905 of FIG.9 is stored in the opinion database 230 of the present embodiment. Theopinion database update unit 273 of the present embodiment performs, forexample, a morpheme analysis with respect to the opinion of each studentstored in the opinion database 230 and extracts a word from the opinionof each student. The opinion database update unit 273 extracts fourwords of “pregnant of mother”, “effect”, “worry”, “life” from theopinion of the student ID12301. Also, the opinion database update unit273 stores the extracted words in the keyword column of the opiniondatabase 230 as the keywords. The opinion database update unit 273performs the process with respect to the opinions associated with all ofthe student IDs.

Next, the process of step S908 will be described.

When the keyword is extracted from each opinion, the opinion databaseupdate unit 273 of the present embodiment continuously refers to thesimilar word dictionary 250 to determine whether a pattern in which theword coincided with the keyword is included exists.

Specifically, the keywords associated with the student ID12301 are fourwords of “pregnant of mother”, “effect”, “worry”, “life”, for example,in the opinion database 230 illustrated in FIG. 5. The pattern whichincludes a word which coincides with any one of the four keywords ispattern 2 and pattern 3 in the similar word dictionary 250. Accordingly,the opinion database update unit 273 stores the words included inpattern 2 and pattern 3 in the keyword column associated with thestudent ID12301. Accordingly, ten words of “pregnant of mother”,“effect”, “concern”, “life”, “health”, “disease”, “after-effect”,“biosis”, “abortion” and “death” are stored in the keyword columnassociated with the student ID12301 in an example of FIG. 5.

The opinion database update unit 273 of the present embodiment performsthe process for the opinion associated with all the student IDs.

Next, operations of the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodimentwill be described with reference to FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C. FIGS. 12A,12B and 12C are a second flowchart illustrating operations of theteacher terminal. FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C illustrate operations of theteacher terminal 200 when the grouping support program 280 is executed.

In the teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment, the displaycontrol unit 281 displays each opinion stored in the opinion database230 in the display manipulation device 21 in a matrix shape (stepS1201). Further, a device which displays an opinion may be, for example,the display manipulation device 21 or a projector connected to theteacher terminal 200. In the present embodiment, it is desirable thatthe device which displays the opinion is, for example, an electronicblackboard which can be read by all the students and the teachers.Further, in the present embodiment, the same monitor screen as themonitor screen displayed in the display manipulation device 21 of theteacher terminal 200 may be displayed in a screen by, for example, aprojector. The following description will be made in an assumption thatdisplaying of the display manipulation device 21 is reflected indisplaying of the electronic blackboard or the screen and the displaycontrol unit 281 controls displaying of the display manipulation device21 of the teacher terminal 200.

The representative opinion reception unit 282 determines whetherselection of the representative opinion among the opinions displayed ina matrix shape in the display manipulation device 21 is received in theteacher terminal 200 (step S1202). When it is determined that theselection of the representative opinion is received at step S1202, therepresentative opinion reception unit 282 turns ON the representativeopinion flag associated with student ID selected as the representativeopinion in the opinion database 230 (step S1203). Subsequently, thedisplay control unit 281 displays and highlights the selectedrepresentative opinion in a monitor screen (hereinafter, the opiniondisplay monitor screen) displayed at step S1201 (step S1204).

When it is determined that the selection of the representative opinionis not received at step S1202, the representative opinion reception unit282 determines whether the representative opinion already exists (stepS1205). Specifically, the representative opinion reception unit 282determines whether there is an opinion for which the representativeopinion flag is turned ON in the opinion database 230. When it isdetermined that the representative opinion does not exist at step S1205,the representative opinion reception unit 282 goes back to step S1202.When it is determined that the representative opinion already exists atstep S1205, the teacher terminal 200 proceeds to step S1206 to bedescribed below.

The selected opinion reception unit 283 determines whether the opiniondisplay monitor screen goes into an opinion selection mode in theteacher terminal 200 (step S1206). The opinion selection mode is a modethat causes the teacher to select an opinion required for being aselected opinion in the opinion display monitor screen. In the presentembodiment, the opinion selection mode may be an opinion selection modewhich causes the teacher to select, for example, when a predeterminedmanipulation is performed within an area in which the representativeopinion is displayed (hereinafter, the representative opinion displayarea) in the opinion display monitor screen.

When it is determined that the opinion display monitor screen goes intothe opinion selection mode at step S1206, the display control unit 281displays a message which prompts to select an opinion related to therepresentative opinion in the display manipulation device 21 (stepS1207). When it is determined that the opinion display monitor screendoes not go into the opinion selection mode at step S1206, the processproceeds to step S1215 to be described below.

Subsequently, the selected opinion reception unit 283 determines whetherthe representative opinion and an opinion required for being a selectedopinion in the opinion display monitor screen (step S1208). When it isdetermined that the selected opinion is not selected at step S1208, theselected opinion reception unit 283 waits until the opinion is selectedas a selected opinion. When it is determined that the opinion isselected as the selected opinion at step S1208, the selected opinionreception unit 283 turns ON the selected opinion flag associated withthe student ID of which the opinion is selected in the opinion database230 at step S1208. Further, the selected opinion reception unit 283stores the student ID of which the representative opinion flag is turnedON in the representative opinion column associated with the student IDof which the opinion is selected at step S1208 (step S1209). In thefollowing description, an opinion for which the selected opinion flag isturned ON is referred to as the selected opinion.

Subsequently, the keyword acquisition unit 284 acquires the keywordstored in the keyword column associated with the student ID of which theselected opinion flag is turned ON from the opinion database 230 (stepS1210). Subsequently, the related opinion specifying unit 285 determineswhether the related word (the same keyword among the keywords containedin the representative opinion and the selected opinion) exists in thekeywords acquired at step S1210 (step S1211). When it is determined thatthe related word does not exist at step S1211, the process proceeds tostep S1218 to be described below.

When it is determined that the related word exists at step S1211, therelated opinion specifying unit 285 determines whether a student ID,which includes the keyword coincided with the related word, except forthe students who wrote representative opinion and the selected opinionexists in the keyword column in the opinion database 230 (step S1212).When it is determined that the corresponding student ID does not existat step S1212, the process proceeds to step S1218 to be described below.

When it is determined that the student ID exists at step S1212, therelated opinion specifying unit 285 specifies the opinion of thecorresponding student ID as a related opinion related to therepresentative opinion.

At a step subsequent to step S1212, the related opinion specifying unit285 stores the student ID of the student who inputs the selected opinionin the selected opinion column associated with the student ID of thestudent who input the related opinion in the opinion database 230 (stepS1213).

Subsequently, the relating line management unit 286 causes the displaycontrol unit 281 to display the relating line which connects the relatedopinion and the selected opinion in the opinion display monitor screen(step S1214). Subsequently, the relating line management unit 286determines whether a trajectory input which trespasses the relating lineby, for example, a pointer, is detected (step S1215). Details of therelating line will be described later.

When it is determined that the corresponding input is detected at stepS1215, the related opinion specifying unit 285 deletes the student IDstored in the selected opinion column associated with the student ID ofthe student who input the related opinion in the opinion database 230(step S1216). When it is determined that the corresponding input is notdetected at step S1215, the process proceeds to step S1218 to bedescribed below. As a result, the process of step S1216 is a process inwhich the relevancy is removed after an indication that the opinion isan unrelated opinion is received from the teacher.

At a step subsequent to step S1216, the relating line management unit286 deletes the relating line which connects the selected opinion andthe related opinion for which the student ID is deleted at step S1216 inthe opinion display monitor screen (step S1217). Details of the relatingline will be described later.

Subsequently, the display control unit 281 determines whether theselected opinion and the related opinion are moved to the representativeopinion display area in the opinion display monitor screen (step S1218).Specifically, the display control unit 281 determines whether themanipulation of dragging the selected opinion to the representativeopinion display area is performed in the opinion display monitor screen.Further, in the present embodiment, when the manipulation of draggingthe selected opinion to the representative opinion display area isperformed, since the related opinion connected to the selected opinionby the relating line is also being continued to the selected opinion andthus, the related opinion is dragged and moved to the representativeopinion the display area.

When it is determined that the selected opinion and the related opinionare moved at step S1218, the display control unit 281 displays theselected opinion and the related opinion in such a manner that theopinions are overlapped with and positioned below the representativeopinion in the representative opinion display area (step S1219). When itis determined that the selected opinion and the related opinion are notmoved at step S1218, the process proceeds to step S1220 to be describedbelow.

At a step subsequent to step S1219, the label display unit 287determines whether a label display request for the representativeopinion is received in the opinion display monitor screen (step S1220).When it is determined that the label display request is received stepS1220, the label display unit 287 performs a label display process (stepS1221). Details of the label display process by the label display unit287 will be described later.

When it is determined that the label display request is not received atstep S1220, the display control unit 281 determines whether the opinionunfolding display request is received (step S1222). When it isdetermined that the opinion unfolding display request is received atstep S1222, the display control unit 281 displays the selected opinionand the related opinion with being centered around the representativeopinion (step S1223). When it is determined that the opinion unfoldingdisplay request is not received at step S1222, the process proceeds tostep S1226. At step S1226, the display control unit 281 determineswhether a display end request is received (step S1226). When it isdetermined that the display end request is received at step S1226, theteacher terminal 200 ends the process of the grouping support program280. When it is determined that the display end request is not receivedat step S1226, the teacher terminal 200 goes back to step S1202.

At a step subsequent to step S1223, the display control unit 281determines whether a request to restore displaying of the monitor screento the opinion display monitor screen displayed initially (step S1224).When it is determined that the corresponding request is received at stepS1224, the display control unit 281 restores displaying of the opinionto an initial opinion unfolding monitor screen displayed in a matrixshape (step S1227), and goes back to step S1202.

When it is determined that the corresponding request is not received atstep S1224, the display control unit 281 determines whether the displayend request is received (step S1225).

When it is determined that the display end request is not received atstep S1225, the display control unit 281 goes back to step S1224. Whenit is determined that the display end request is received at step S1225,the teacher terminal 200 ends the process of the grouping supportprogram 280.

Hereinbelow, the operations of the teacher terminal 200 when thegrouping support program 280 of the present embodiment is executed willbe described with reference to figures in detail.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an example of an opinion display monitorscreen. The opinion display monitor screen 131 illustrated in FIG. 13 isan example of a monitor screen displayed on the display manipulationdevice 21 of the teacher terminal 200 at step S1201 of FIG. 12A.Further, the opinion display monitor screen 131 may also be associatedwith the teacher terminal 200 and displayed on, for example, anelectronic blackboard or a screen.

The opinions of the respective students stored in the opinion database230 are displayed in a matrix shape in the opinion display monitorscreen 131.

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the representative opinion is selected. FIG. 14illustrates an example of the opinion display monitor screen 131A inwhich an opinion of Mr. DD is selected as the representative opinion. Inthe opinion display monitor screen 131A, for example, an area in whichthe opinion of Mr. DD is displayed becomes a representative opiniondisplay area 141. Further, the representative opinion display area 141is displayed to be emphasized, for example, by being color-displayedwith a particular color in the opinion display monitor screen 131A.

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the opinion selection mode is selected. The teacherterminal 200 of the present embodiment may go into an opinion selectionmode in a case where a particular manipulation is performed while acursor is placed within the representative opinion display area 141 by,for example, a pointing device.

Specifically, in a case where, for example, a mouse is used as thepointing device, the teacher terminal 200 may be allowed to go into theopinion selection mode at the time when the cursor 142 is left-clickedby being placed within the representative opinion display area 141. Whenthe teacher terminal 200 of the present embodiment goes into the opinionselection mode, a message 143 prompting to select an opinion requiredfor being a selected opinion is displayed.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which an opinion required for being a selected opinion isselected. FIG. 16 illustrates an example of the opinion display monitorscreen 131C in which an opinion of MR. GG is selected as the selectedopinion. In the opinion display monitor screen 131C, when the cursor 142is placed within, for example, an area in which the opinion of MR. GG isdisplayed, an area in which the opinion of MR. GG is displayed becomesthe selected opinion display area 144. The selected opinion display area144 may also be displayed to be highlighted in the present embodiment.

Hereinbelow, the opinion database 230 which is in a state where therepresentative opinion and the selected opinion are selected will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 17. FIG. 17 is a second viewillustrating an example of the opinion database. FIG. 17 illustrates anexample the opinion database 230 in a case where the opinion of MR. DDis set as the representative opinion and the opinion of MR. GG is set asthe selected opinion.

When referring to the student database 210, the student ID of MR. DD is12304. Accordingly, the representative opinion flag associated with thestudent ID12304 is turned ON in the opinion database 230 illustrated inFIG. 17. Further, when referring to the student database 210, thestudent ID of MR. GG is 12307. Accordingly, in the opinion database 230illustrated in FIG. 17, the student ID12304 of MR. DD selected as therepresentative opinion is stored in the representative opinion columnassociated with the student ID12307. Further, the selected opinion flagassociated with the student ID12307 is turned ON.

Here, a process of the related opinion specifying unit 285 will bedescribed in detail. The keywords associated with the representativeopinion are “economy”, “happiness”, “cost of living”, “money” and“income” in the opinion database 230 of FIG. 17. Further, the keywordsassociated with the selected opinion are “money”, “hardship” “cost ofliving”, “economy” and “income” in the opinion database 230 of FIG. 17.

The keywords common to the keywords associated with each of therepresentative opinion and the selected opinion, that is, the relatedwords are “economy”, “cost of living”, “money” and “income”.

Accordingly, the related opinion specifying unit 285 specifies thestudent ID for which the keywords coincided with the four related wordsincluded in the keyword column in the opinion database 230. The studentID12302 is specified as the student ID described above in an example ofFIG. 17. Accordingly, the related opinion specifying unit 285 specifiesthe opinion associated with the student ID12302 as the related opinion.Further, the related opinion specifying unit 285 stores the studentID12307 of which the selected opinion flag is turned ON in the selectedopinion column associated with the student ID12302.

That is, it may be seen that in the opinion database 230 illustrated inFIG. 17, the opinion of the student having the student ID12302 issimilar to the opinion of the student having the student ID12307 and theopinion of the student having the student ID12307 is related to theopinion of the student having the student ID12304. As described above,the opinion database 230 of the present embodiment stores therelationship between the representative opinion, the selected opinionand the related opinion.

Subsequently, a case where the opinion display monitor screen 131 inwhich the relating line is displayed will be described with reference toFIG. 18. FIG. 18 is a view illustrating an example of the opiniondisplay monitor screen in which a relating line is displayed.

The related opinion display area 145 corresponds to an area in which theopinion of Mr. BB who is the student having the student ID12302 isdisplayed in the opinion display monitor screen 131D illustrated in FIG.18. Further, the relating line 146 connecting the selected opiniondisplay area 144 and the related opinion display area 145 is displayedin the opinion display monitor screen 131D. Further, a single relatingline 146 exists in an example of FIG. 18. However, when a plurality ofrelated opinions exist, the plurality of relating lines directing fromthe selected opinion display area 144 to the plurality of relatedopinion display areas are displayed.

Next, the movement of the selected opinion and the related opinion willbe described with reference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a view explainingmovement of the selected opinion and the related opinion.

In the present embodiment, when the cursor 142 is moved into, forexample, the representative opinion display area 141 while placing thecursor 142 within the selected opinion display area 144 in the opiniondisplay monitor screen 131E illustrated in FIG. 19, the selected opiniondisplayed in the selected opinion display area 144 is moved to therepresentative opinion display area 141 along the trajectory of thecursor 142. Further, the related opinion displayed in the relatedopinion display area 145 connected with the selected opinion displayarea 144 by the relating line 146 is also associated with the selectedopinion and moved into the representative opinion display area 141 inthe present embodiment.

That is, in the present embodiment, the related opinion connected withthe selected opinion by the relating line is grouped in the same groupas the representative opinion.

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen which is in a state where movement of the selected opinion andthe related opinion has been completed. In the opinion display monitorscreen 131F illustrated in FIG. 20, the selected opinion and the relatedopinion are superposed with each other in the representative opiniondisplay area 141. In the opinion display monitor screen 131F of thepresent embodiment, the selected opinion and the related opinion aresuperposed with the representative opinion such that the representativeopinion is placed on a front-end surface of the monitor screen. Also, inthe opinion display monitor screen 131F, the selected opinion displayarea 144 emptied is displayed and displaying within the related opiniondisplay area 145 emptied is displayed.

Further, the student names associated with each of the representativeopinion, the selected opinion and the related opinion may be displayedusing a tap in the present embodiment. When the tap of name is selected,the opinion associated with the name may be displayed to be placed at afront-end surface within the representative opinion display area 141 inthe present embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, a tap inwhich the name of student associated with the selected opinion may bedisplayed beside another tap in which the name of student associatedwith the representative opinion is displayed. Further, in the presentembodiment, a tap in which the name of student associated with therelated opinion may be displayed beside another tap in which the name ofstudent associated with the selected opinion is displayed.

Next, a process of the label display unit 287 of the present embodimentwill be described. In the present embodiment, it is possible to displaya label which indicates the basis viewpoint on which the teacherselected the representative opinion and the selected opinion within therepresentative opinion display area 141.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart explaining the process of a label display unit.

The label display unit 287 of the present embodiment refers to the labeldatabase 240 to acquire the label information (step S211). Subsequently,the label display unit 287 prepares and displays the label informationselection menu in the opinion display monitor screen 131 such that thelabel information selection menu is overlapped with a portion of therepresentative opinion display area 141 (step S212).

Subsequently, the label display unit 287 determines whether the labelinformation is selected from the label information selection menu (stepS213). When it is determined that the label information is not selectedat step S213, the label display unit 287 waits until the labelinformation is selected.

When it is determined that the label information is selected at stepS213, the label display unit 287 displays the selected label informationwithin the designated representative opinion display area 141 (stepS214), and ends the process.

Herein below, a process by the label display unit 287 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 22, FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 in detail. FIG. 22 is aview illustrating an example of the opinion display monitor screen inwhich a label information selection menu is displayed. The labelinformation selection menu 151 in which a list of label information isdisplayed within the representative opinion display area 141 isdisplayed in the opinion display monitor screen 131G illustrated in FIG.22.

When the cursor is placed within, for example, the representativeopinion display area 141 and a particular manipulation is performed, thelabel display unit 287 of the present embodiment may determine that therepresentative opinion display area 141 in which the label informationlist menu 151 is displayed is selected.

The label information selection menu 151 of the present embodiment isdisplayed such that at least a portion of the label informationselection menu is overlapped with the representative opinion displayarea 141. In the present embodiment, a portion of the label informationselection menu 151 is displayed to be overlapped with the representativeopinion display area 141 and thus, it makes possible for the teacher toknow which representative opinion the label is assigned to.

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which label information is selected from the label informationselection menu. The opinion display monitor screen 131G illustrated inFIG. 23 illustrates an example in which the label information 152 isselected in the label information selection menu 151.

FIG. 24 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the selected label information is displayed on therepresentative opinion display area.

The selected label information 152 is displayed within therepresentative opinion display area 141 in the opinion display monitorscreen 131H illustrated in FIG. 24.

In the present embodiment, the selected label information 152 isdisplayed within the representative opinion display area 141 asdescribed above and thus, it makes possible for the teacher to know thebasis viewpoint on which the opinions are arranged in the representativeopinion display area 141. In the example of FIG. 24, the fact that theopinion of Mr. DD is the representative opinion, the opinion of Mr. GGis the selected opinion, and the opinion of Mr. BB is the relatedopinion among the opinions arranged in the representative opiniondisplay area 141 may be known from a position of the tap. Further, itmay be seen that the opinions arranged in the representative opiniondisplay area 141 are grouped on the basis of a viewpoint displayed inthe label information 152, that is, the viewpoint of “worrying about theeconomic aspect”.

Next, a process of deleting the relating line by the relating linemanagement unit 286 will be described with reference to FIG. 25 and FIG.26. FIG. 25 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion displaymonitor screen in which the relating line is deleted.

The relating line management unit 286 of the present embodiment deletesthe relating line 146 from the opinion display monitor screen 131D, forexample, when the trajectory 147 of the cursor trespasses the relatingline 146 in the opinion display monitor screen 131D in which in therelating line 146 is displayed.

The relating line 146 connecting the opinion of Mr. GG and the opinionof Mr. BB is deleted in an example of FIG. 25. In this case, the relatedopinion specifying unit 285 deletes the student ID12307 of Mr. GG storedin the selected opinion column associated with the student ID of Mr. BBin the opinion database 230.

FIG. 26 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the relating line is deleted. The relating line of theselected opinion display area 144 and the related opinion display area145 are deleted in the opinion display monitor screen 131I illustratedin FIG. 26. Accordingly, in an example of FIG. 26, the opinion displayedin the related opinion display area 145 becomes an opinion which is nota related opinion of the representative opinion, and even when theselected opinion displayed in the selected opinion display area 144 ismoved, the opinion displayed in the display area 145 is not moved. Thatis, the relating line of the present embodiment is a selection tool thatmakes select whether the related opinion is to be grouped as the samegroup as the representative opinion.

Next, a case where the plurality of representative opinions are selectedin the opinion display monitor screen will be described.

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion database inwhich the plurality of representative opinions are selected. FIG. 27illustrates a case where the opinion associated with the student ID12306is selected as the representative opinion in addition to the opinionassociated with the student ID12304 and the opinion associated with thestudent ID12305 is selected as the selected opinion related to therepresentative opinion.

When the opinion associated with the student ID12306 is selected as therepresentative opinion, the representative opinion reception unit 282turns ON the representative opinion flag associated with the studentID12306. Further, when the opinion associated with the student ID12305is selected as the selected opinion, the selected opinion reception unit283 turns ON the selected opinion flag associated with the studentID12305. Also, the selected opinion reception unit 283 stores thestudent ID12306 associated with the representative opinion in therepresentative opinion column associated with the student ID12305.

Here, the related words in the keywords associated with the studentID12306 and the related word associated with the student ID12305 are“biosis”, “life”, “abortion” and “death”. Accordingly, the relatedopinion specifying unit 285 specifies the opinion which includes thekeywords coincided with the four related words in the keywords as therelated opinion. The opinion associated with the student ID12301 isspecified as the related opinion in an example of FIG. 27. Accordingly,the related opinion specifying unit 285 stores the student ID12305associated with the selected opinion in the selected opinion columnassociated with the student ID12301.

FIG. 28 is a view illustrating an example of the opinion display monitorscreen in which the plurality of representative opinions are selected.The area in which the opinion associated with the student ID12306selected as the representative opinion is displayed becomes therepresentative opinion display area 181 in the opinion display monitorscreen 131J illustrated in FIG. 28. Further, the label information 153is displayed in the representative opinion display area 181 in anexample of FIG. 28. Accordingly, it may be seen that the opinions of therespective students are arranged in the opinions grouped on the basis ofthe viewpoint of “worrying about economic aspect” and the opinionsgrouped on the basis of the viewpoint of “preciousness of life” in theopinion display monitor screen 131J.

In the present embodiment, for example, when the opinion unfoldingdisplay button 16 displayed in the opinion display monitor screen 131Jis manipulated (touched), the grouped opinions are unfolded anddisplayed.

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating an example of a unfolding display monitorscreen in which the opinions are unfolded and displayed. Therepresentative opinion, the selected opinion and the related opinion aredisplayed in the same monitor screen in the unfolding display monitorscreen 132 illustrated in FIG. 29. It is desirable to display the otheropinions with being centered around the representative opinion in theunfolding display monitor screen 132. For example, in the example ofFIG. 29, the opinions grouped in the same group of the representativeopinion display area 141 “A” are displayed in an area 291. In the area291, the selected opinion display area 145A in which the selectedopinion is displayed and the related opinion display area 144A in whichthe related opinion is displayed are unfolded and displayed with beingcentered around the representative opinion display area 141A. Further,the label information 152 (see, for example, FIG. 23) selected in therepresentative opinion display area 141A is displayed in the area 291.

Further, in the example of FIG. 29, the selected opinion and the relatedopinion grouped in the same group as the representative opinion displayarea 181A are displayed in the area 292. Similar to the area 291, thelabel information 153 (see, for example, FIG. 28) selected in therepresentative opinion display area 181A is displayed in the area 292.

Further, when the button 162 is manipulated (touched) in the unfoldingdisplay monitor screen 132, the display control unit 281 of the presentembodiment restores displaying of the display manipulation device 21from unfolding the display monitor screen 132 to the opinion displaymonitor screen 131.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the representativeopinion, the selected opinion and the related opinion, and the labelinformation indicating the viewpoint for grouping are concurrentlydisplayed for each group and thus, it makes possible for the teacher orthe student to readily view how the opinions of the respective studentsare grouped.

Further, the related opinion related to the representative opinion isspecified using the related words extracted from the keywords obtainedfrom each of the representative opinion (e.g., first opinioninformation) and the selected opinion (e.g., second opinion information)selected by the teacher in the present embodiment. Accordingly, theviewpoint when the teacher selects the representative opinion isdetermined and the opinions may be grouped based on the viewpoint in thepresent embodiment.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the disclosureand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the disclosure. Although the embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been described in detail, it should be understood thatthe various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-readable storage medium storing agrouping support program of opinion information that, when executed by acomputer, performs a grouping support method comprising: specifying arelated opinion information related to a first opinion information and asecond opinion information among a plurality of collected opinioninformation based on a related word guided from the first opinioninformation and the second opinion information selected from theplurality of collected opinion information; and grouping the specifiedrelated opinion information in the same group as the first opinioninformation and the second opinion information.
 2. The computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 1, wherein the specifying defines aword that is common to words associated with the first opinioninformation including a word obtained by analyzing the first opinioninformation and words associated with first opinion informationincluding another word obtained by analyzing the second opinioninformation as the related word.
 3. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 2, wherein the grouping support method furthercomprising: associating the word obtained by analyzing the opinioninformation with the opinion information to store the word in adatabase; and storing the plurality of words associated with the wordobtained by analyzing the opinion information in the similar worddictionary in the database such that the plurality of words areassociated with the opinion information when a storage unit that storesa similar word dictionary in which a plurality of similar words areassociated with each other is retrieved and the word obtained byanalyzing the first opinion information is included in the similar worddictionary.
 4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim3, wherein the specifying defines the opinion information in which aword coincided with the related word is present in the words associatedwith the opinion information in the database as the related opinion. 5.The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3, wherein thespecifying, in the opinions stored in the database, turns ON a firstopinion flag with respect to the opinion selected as the first opinioninformation, turns ON a second opinion flag with respect to the opinionselected as the second opinion information to associate an identifieridentifying the first opinion information with the second opinioninformation, and stores the related opinion to be associate with theanother identifier identifying the second opinion information.
 6. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein thegrouping support method further comprising: displaying a selection toolwhich causes to select whether the related opinion is to be grouped inthe group represented by the first opinion information in a displaydevice.
 7. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6,wherein the selection tool is a relating line connecting the relatedopinion and the second opinion information displayed in the displaydevices, the specifying deletes an identifier identifying the secondopinion information associated with the related opinion in the databasewhen input of the trajectory trespassing the relating line is detected,and the displaying clears display of the relating line from the displaydevice.
 8. A grouping support method for electronic terminal comprising:specifying a related opinion related to a first opinion information anda second opinion information among a plurality of collected opinioninformation based on a related word guided from the first opinioninformation and the second opinion information selected from theplurality of collected opinion information; and grouping the relatedopinion information in the same group as the first opinion informationand the second opinion information.
 9. A grouping support servercomprising: a related opinion specifying unit configured to specify arelated opinion related to a first opinion information and a secondopinion information among a plurality of collected opinion informationbased on a related word guided from the first opinion information andthe second opinion information selected from the plurality of collectedopinion information; and a grouping unit configured to group the relatedopinion information in the same group as the first opinion informationand the second opinion information.